DATA SHEET
EMC Avamar
Next-generation backup and recovery with global, source data deduplicationLike many companies, your organization may be forced to rethink its data protection methods as a
result of exponential data growth, regulatory compliance, strict service-level agreements, and shrinking
backup windows. As an IT manager, you may also be facing additional challenges brought on by
aggressive virtualization strategies and the need to better protect data residing at remote offices.
Developed to solve the challenges associated with traditional backup, EMC® Avamar® backup and recov-
ery software, equipped with integrated global, source data deduplication technology, facilitates fast,
daily full backups for VMware® environments, remote offices, and LAN/NAS servers in the data center.
Unlike traditional backup methods, Avamar eliminates redundant sub-file data segments at the source
(client) before data is transferred across your network and stored to disk. As a result, the network
bandwidth required for backup is reduced by up to 500x—enabling fast daily full backups across exist-
ing WAN/LAN links and virtual infrastructure. Avamar also deduplicates your backup data globally,
across sites and servers, reducing your required total back-end disk storage by up to 50x. Backup data
can be encrypted in flight and at rest, enabling secure, cost-effective, long-term retention on disk.
The drawbacks of conventional data protection One of the key drivers impacting backup performance is the amount of data that must be protected
within the available backup window. Traditional solutions are inefficient because they back up
everything—including duplicate data files and sub-file data segments that exist across your servers,
desktops, laptops, and offices. When combined with traditional daily incremental and weekly full
backup schedules, the impact of duplicate data is staggering. The sheer amount of data that must
cross already congested networks, backup servers, and infrastructure often makes meeting short
backup windows a significant challenge.
The impact is especially severe if you are dealing with virtual environments, remote offices, and NAS
filers. In virtual environments, each virtual machine represents an individual backup job, often with
concurrent or overlapping backup windows, and includes redundant operating system, application, and
file data. Consequently, backups for virtual machines can often overrun backup windows and tax shared
resources, leaving data unprotected and creating management issues for your backup administrators.
In remote offices, limited network bandwidth makes centralized, automated WAN-based backup nearly
impossible. As a result, backup tasks frequently fall on the shoulders of non-technical local staff.
Failure-prone, tape-based hardware and ad-hoc manual processes often compound the challenges in
ensuring consistently reliable remote office data protection.
Protecting NAS filers can pose a significant challenge too, especially when full backups fail to complete
within the allotted timeframe, which can impact employee productivity and leave your data unprotected.
Traditional solutions also increase costs because extra storage capacity is needed to back up
duplicate data. This is often exacerbated by data retention requirements for regulatory compliance.
In addition, traditional backup often involves the shipment of physical tapes offsite, including
unencrypted tapes, which can result in exposure of confidential information, theft, or data loss.
The Big Picture
•Datadeduplicatedatthesource(client)before transfer across the network
•IdealforprotectingVMwareenvironments,remote offices, and LAN/NAS servers
•Upto10xfasterdailyfullbackups;single-step recovery
•Reducesnetworkbandwidthforbackupbyup to 500x
•SecurebackupandreplicationviaexistingLAN/WAN links
•Globaldeduplicationreducestotalbackupstorage by up to 50x
•RAINforhighavailability;dailyserveranddata recoverability checks
•Exportdeduplicatedbackupdatatotapeforlong-term storage
•Flexibledeploymentoptions:Avamarsoftware only, Avamar Data Store, Avamar Virtual Edition virtual appliance for VMware
Never back up the same data twiceEMC Avamar enables fast, efficient backup and recovery by reducing the size of backup data at the
source—before it is transferred across your network and stored to disk. Unlike traditional solutions,
Avamar leverages your existing physical and virtual infrastructure to deliver fast, daily full backups.
Avamar also deduplicates backup data globally across your servers, desktops, laptops, and offices
worldwide to reduce the total required disk storage by up to 50x. As a result, Avamar enables you to
leverage the benefits of efficient long-term retention of backup data on disk while dramatically lower-
ing your capital and operating expenses including floor space, power, and cooling.
Unlike traditional solutions, Avamar also provides daily full backups that can be quickly recovered in
just one step—eliminating the hassle of restoring full and subsequent incremental backups to reach
the desired recovery point. And backup data is encrypted during transit across the network and at
rest for added security.
In addition, Avamar’s centralized web-based management and at-a-glance dashboard view make it
easy for you to protect hundreds of offices worldwide from a single location over existing network
bandwidth.
Highly efficient data deduplication The method for determining segment size is a key factor in eliminating redundant data at a sub-file
level. Some solutions on the market use fixed-block or fixed-length segments when performing data
deduplication. With this approach, even small changes to a dataset (for example, inserting data into
the beginning of a file) can change all subsequent fixed-length segments in a dataset. Despite the
fact that very little of the data has actually changed, the entire file will appear as new data that must
be backed-up again.
Avamar solves this problem by examining the data to determine logical boundary points using variable-
length data segments. In this way, Avamar gives you the most-efficient global, source data deduplica-
tion on the market—dramatically reducing the amount of data sent and stored, while eliminating
backup bottlenecks and increasing performance.
Scalability, high availability, and reliabilityUnlike many physical server deployments, the Avamar server uses a grid architecture that facilitates
linear performance increases by simply adding storage nodes. Each incremental node increases CPU,
memory, I/O, and disk capacity for the entire grid. When additional storage is added, data is auto-
matically load-balanced without compromising deduplication efficiency or system performance.
When traditional backup solutions fail, your company is exposed to windows of potential data loss.
Avamar eliminates single points of failure by employing patented redundant array of independent
nodes(RAIN)technologytoprovidehighavailabilityandfaulttoleranceacrossnodesinanAvamar
grid. In addition, Avamar system integrity is verified twice daily via internal system checkpoints. And
Avamar verifies the recoverability of all backup data daily—so there are no surprises.
Optimized protection for VMware infrastructureAvamar deduplicates your backup data globally, across your physical and virtual servers. For virtual-
ized environments, flexible backup options include guest- or image-level backups that leverage the
latest VMware vStorage APIs for Data Protection. In all cases, only new, unique sub-file, variable-length
data segments are transferred across the virtual/physical infrastructure. Avamar can also deduplicate
the data stored within your virtual disks (VMDK files), enabling efficient replication for disaster recov-
ery. And, Avamar provides fast, single-step recovery of individual files or complete VMDK images.
Efficient export to tapeIf you require the use of tape media, Avamar Data Transport makes it easy to export Avamar
deduplicated backup data to physical tape for cost-effective, long-term storage. By leveraging
Avamar’s powerful deduplication technology, daily full backups can be efficiently stored on tape
via EMC NetWorker® and other popular backup software. Avamar verifies data integrity for your peace
of mind and offers a searchable catalog to simplify recovery from tape. In addition, an intuitive
interface, along with streamlined reporting, make the entire process easy to manage.
“ Tape just wasn’t doing the job for us. The Avamar solution gives us more effective data protection and puts us in a better position to restore lost data if necessary. In turn, we’re able to recover failed systems faster and shorten time to recovery for customer-facing services.”
ToddGourd Manager of IT Systems Administration
Cherokee Nation Enterprises
EMC Avamar Data Store
Flexible deployment options to fit your exact needsAvamar gives you flexibility in solution deployments depending on your specific use case and recovery
requirements.
There are two convenient physical deployment options—EMC Avamar Data Store, a complete, pre-
packaged backup and recovery solution that integrates Avamar software with EMC-certified hardware
for streamlined deployment, and EMC Avamar software that can be deployed on a range of certified
industry-standard servers. An entry-level Avamar Data Store configuration is ideal for remote offices
when fast, local backup and recovery are priorities. For larger remote sites and data centers, a range
of Avamar Data Store configurations provides the ability to retain the equivalent of petabytes of daily
full backups that can be immediately recovered in a single step.
For environments standardized on VMware virtual infrastructure, EMC offers you a virtualized deploy-
ment option. The EMC Avamar Virtual Edition for VMware—the industry’s first deduplication virtual
appliance for backup and recovery—consists of EMC Avamar software deployed as a virtual appliance.
It enables you to easily deploy a complete Avamar server on an existing VMware ESX® Server, leverag-
ing the attached disk storage and infrastructure for a fast return on investment. Since all aspects of
the backup and recovery process are encapsulated and virtualized, control and management are also
streamlined, reducing demands on your IT staff. Avamar Virtual Edition has the added benefit of cost-
effective Avamar virtual-to-virtual, or Avamar virtual-to-physical server replication to meet your disas-
ter recovery objectives.
For smaller remote offices, lightweight, efficient Avamar software agents can be deployed on protected
systems with no additional remote hardware required. This enables your data to be backed up
directly over existing WAN connections to a central Avamar server at the data center, eliminating the
need for local tape backups and the risk associated with offsite tape shipments. To protect your
larger remote offices and provide faster recovery, data can be backed up to a local physical or virtual
Avamar server, and then replicated to another Avamar server located at the disaster recovery site,
hub site, or data center if required.
Avamar Desktop/Laptop further extends the power of Avamar to your end-users—anytime, anywhere.
With data deduplication at the source, open-file backup, and CPU throttling, Avamar can quickly
protect valuable data via existing network links. And since it operates in the background, Avamar is
not disruptive to your users. Data is automatically backed up when a user logs in during normal
backup windows, or users can initiate their own backups on demand. A streamlined interface
enables them to recover their own data quickly and easily.
“ The [EMC] Avamar remote office solution enabled us to reduce administrative support requirements by 80 percent, reduce backup windows by 90 percent, and recover lost files and servers in minutes rather than hours.”
Mike DePhillip Backup Administrator
Virginia DMV
WAN
Large Remote Site
Primary systems
Avamar Data Store
EncryptedEncrypted
Small Remote Site
Primary systems
Avamar agent only on primary systems
Data Center
EncryptedEncrypted
Primary systems
AvamarData Store
= Avamar Software Agent
TapeVault
Remote Recovery Site
Primary systems
AvamarData Store
“ [EMC] Avamar provides a huge time and cost savings for backup of multiple virtual machines.”
Curtis Damhof Senior Network Administrator
St. Peter’s Hospital
EMC CorporationHopkintonMassachusetts01748-91031-508-435-1000In North America 1-866-464-7381www.EMC.com
EMC2, EMC, Avamar, NetWorker, and where information lives are registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and other countries. VMware, VMware ESX, and VMware vSphere are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc., in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. © Copyright 2007, 2010 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Produced in the USA. 04/10 Data Sheet H2568.6
Take the next stepTo learn how an EMC Avamar solution can make your backup and recovery processes more efficient and cost-effective, contact your local EMC sales representative or authorized value-added reseller, callusat1-866-464-7381,orvisitourwebsiteatwww.EMC.com.
Avamar Feature Avamar BenefitGlobal, source deduplication Backup data reduced at source (client) and globally; reduces daily
full backup times by up to 10x, network bandwidth for backup by up to 500x, and cumulative backup disk storage by up to 50x
Secure, efficient use of existing LAN/WAN links
Data encrypted in-flight and at rest for security across existing LAN/WAN links; reduces or eliminates reliance on tape
High availability and reliability RAIN architecture for fault tolerance across Avamar nodes; no single point of failure
Server health and data recoverability Avamar server integrity and backup data recoverability verified daily
Centralized management Simplifies remote office backup by leveraging data center experts; single pane of glass makes it easy to manage
Fast, single-step recovery Recovers data (whole backups, files, or directories) immediately; no need to restore last good full and incremental backups
Export deduplicated data to tape Lowers the cost of tape storage while providing a searchable, easy-to-manage interface
VMware infrastructure backups Fast, efficient, daily full backups for VM guests and images
Physical and virtual Avamar deployment options
Best-in-class solutions to meet specific needs; same easy-to-manage interface
SpecificationsOperating systems
Apple Macintosh OS X
Free BSD
HP-UX
IBM AIX
Linux
Microsoft Windows
Novell NetWare
Novell OES 2
Novell OES SP2
SCO UNIX
Sun Solaris
VMware ESX
VMwarevSphere4
Hardware
Prepackaged EMC Avamar Data Store
configurationsforsimplifieddeployment;
anycertifiedIntelx86serverrunningRedHat
Enterprise Linux
Applications
IBM DB2
IBM Lotus Domino
Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft SQL Server
NDMP for NAS Filers
Oracle
VMware
Platforms supported
Please contact EMC for further details regarding
certified hardware platforms.